Town Hall News

By Shristi Achar A and Amruta Khandekar (Reuters) – The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell on Thursday with Apple leading declines in megacap growth stocks on concerns over China’s iPhone curbs, while weaker-than-expected jobless claims data stoked worries about sticky inflation. Apple dropped 3.6% on news that China has widened curbs on the use of iPhones by state employees, requiring staff at some central government agencies to stop using their […]

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Azerbaijan on Thursday dismissed an allegation it was building up its forces on the border with Armenia and close to the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave as false, calling it a “fraudulent political manipulation.” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was earlier on Thursday cited by Armenian state news agency Armenpress as saying that Azerbaijan was conducting an “ongoing military build-up along the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh and the Armenia-Azerbaijan border”. […]

BERLIN (Reuters) – Oscar-winning actress and soccer club co-owner Natalie Portman on Thursday praised Spain’s World Cup-winning players, saying they showed great resilience against “harassment, abuse and assault”. Their World Cup victory last month has been overshadowed by the furore over the behaviour of Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales, who at the medals ceremony in Sydney grabbed player Jenni Hermoso’s head and kissed her on the lips. Hermoso, who […]

BRASILIA (Reuters) -President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took part in Brazil’s Independence Day parade on Thursday and urged citizens to unite around common goals as he seeks to end the politicization of the armed forces that gathered steam under his right-wing predecessor. More than 3,000 troops with military hardware will march past the president, cabinet ministers and other authorities on the central esplanade of the Brazilian capital, where a […]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Boeing is set to meet targets to deliver at least 400 narrowbody 737s this year, its chief financial officer said on Thursday, despite a recently discovered production flaw that has slowed deliveries of its bestselling 737 MAX. However, deliveries will be on the “low end” of that target, Boeing CFO Brian West said at an investors conference. The recent problem, discovered late last month, involves fastener holes […]

(Reuters) -Microsoft researchers said on Thursday they found what they believe is a network of fake, Chinese-controlled social media accounts seeking to influence U.S. voters by using artificial intelligence. A Chinese embassy spokesperson in Washington said that accusations of China using AI to create fake social media accounts were “full of prejudice and malicious speculation” and that China advocates for the safe use of AI. In a new research report, […]

By Aditya Soni (Reuters) – Apple fell nearly 4% on Thursday and sparked a selloff in tech stocks after reports that China has widened curbs on iPhone use by government staff in one of the U.S. company’s biggest markets. The world’s most valuable firm was set to lose around $100 billion in market value after suffering its worst one-day drop in more than a month on Wednesday. Apple suppliers and […]

(Reuters) – Microsoft researchers said on Thursday they found what they believe is a network of fake, Chinese-controlled social media accounts seeking to influence U.S. voters by using artificial intelligence. A Chinese embassy spokesperson in Washington said that accusations of China using AI to create fake social media accounts were “full of prejudice and malicious speculation” and that China advocates for the safe use of AI. In a new research […]

By Tom Balmforth and Stefaniia Bern KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s human rights commissioner has called for more international pressure on Moscow to help Kyiv bring home thousands of Ukrainian children who Kyiv says have been illegally taken to Russia during the war. Dmytro Lubinets spoke to Reuters in Kyiv days after several minors were reunited with their parents in western Ukraine on Saturday after a journey home from Russia and […]